Best And Worst ETFs Of The Week Amid Independence Day Celebration

The holiday shortened week came to a close on light volume and unenthusiastic price action. Sellers managed to push the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY over 1 percent lower this week, as Greek default worries led to marked declines in broad-based exchange-traded funds. Nevertheless, hope remains that this embattled nation will come to a truce with its creditors to restore fiscal order in the European continent.

The end of the quarter and mid-point of 2015 served as a reminder that very little progress has been made so far this year. The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF DIA is trading near the flat line, while the iShares Russell 2000 Index (ETF) IWM notched the strongest gain of all the major indices with a total year-to-date return of 4.68 percent through June 30.

Related Link: Bitcoin: The Best Currency For Greece And Other Debt-Ridden Countries?

BEST: Volatility Futures

On Monday, SPY experienced its largest single day decline of 2015 with a drop of more than 2 percent. This sent volatility futures flying higher as traders scrambled to hedge their positions with options. The iPath S&P 500 VIX Short Term Futures TM ETN VXX gained 15 percent this week after recent falling near its lows of the year.

This exchange-traded note is the largest dedicated VIX futures fund, with over $1 billion in total assets. VXX is designed to capitalize on swings in investor fear. Heightened selling and uncertainty in the market generally leads to a spike in the CBOE VIX Volatility Index.

WORST: Greek Stocks

The catalyst for a jump in VXX was spurred by headlines that Greece would be unable to meet an IMF debt repayment deadline and had closed the Athens Stock Exchange. This news led to a steep weekly decline of 10 percent in the Global X FTSE Greece 20 ETF (Global X Funds GREK).

GREK tracks the 20 largest stocks on the Athens Stock Exchange, and prior to this announcement, had been taking in a tremendous wave of new assets, as global investors bet on a turn around. While GREK did manage to claw back some of its hefty losses this week, the fund remains a question mark for investors until the Greek stock market reopens and prices can adjust accordingly.